Two of Dartmouth's three nonconference opponents earned narrow wins last night and the other had a relatively strong performance in a loss.
ILLINOIS STATE 28, VALPARAISO 21
Redshirt freshman quarterback Mason Kaplan, who saw limited action in the Valpo opener, threw for 191 yards (18-for-36) with two touchdowns as the Beacons put a scare into an Illinois State team that had been getting Top-25 votes. While Valparaiso had some success in the air it ran for just 65 yards on 42 carries. Ben Hines had 15 tackles for the Beacons. This was by far Valpo's best performance against a team from the powerhouse Missouri Valley Conference in recent years. Coming into the game Valpo had lost its last eight games against MVC teams by an average of more than 50 points. Valparaiso and Illinois State are now 1-1. Attendance in Normal, Ill., was 6,937.
SACRED HEART 14, CENTRAL CONNECTICUT 10
Malik Grant ran for 109 yards and one touchdown on 25 carries and Arsheen Jiles’ interception ended Central Connecticut’s comeback bid as Sacred Heart improved to 1-1 in a Northeast Conference game. The Blue Devils fell to 0-2. Trailing by three points entering the fourth quarter, Sacred Heart drove 64 yards on 13 plays for what would be the winning touchdown on a 14-yards run by Rob McCoy. Pioneer quarterback Marquez McCray threw for just 61 yards on 8-of-15 passing. Attendance at Central Connecticut was 4,514.
NEW HAMPSHIRE 28, ALBANY 23
Dylan Laube carried the ball 32 times for 202 yards and three TDs to lead UNH. Quarterback Max Brosmer was a modest 11-of-14 for 73 yards and one touchdown. New Hampshire carried a 21-3 lead late into the third quarter before Albany made things interesting. The Great Danes closed to 21-16 before Laube gave New Hampshire some breathing room on a 37-yard scoring run with 1:49 remaining. Albany used a TD with 1:08 left to make it close but New Hampshire recovered the ensuing onside kick to preserve the win. UNH improved to 2-0 overall and in conference play while Albany slipped to 0-2 overall and 0-1 in the CAA. Attendance was 7,174.
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In FBS games where former Dartmouth players recorded statistics, tight end Robbie Mangas caught two passes for 32 yards for Buffalo but Holy Cross used a 46-yard Hail Mary to pull out a 37-31 win. It marks the second year in a row the longtime Dartmouth rival has defeated an FBS school. Last year the Crusaders opened with a 38-28 win at UConn.
At Toledo, former Dartmouth linebacker Jalen Mackie led UMass in tackles for the second consecutive week with seven stops, but the Minutemen dropped a 55-10 decision to the Rockets fall to 0-2.
And in East Hartford, Conn., former Dartmouth corner Isaiah Johnson had one tackle as Syracuse dealt UConn and Johnson’s former teammate Jake Guidone, the Huskies’ starting center, a 48-14 loss.
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The local Valley News has a story spun out of Thursday morning's Dartmouth scrimmage HERE.
BGA Premium took a look at the Dartmouth quarterbacks last night and will have a piece on the Big Green's biggest question area – the offensive line – tonight.
Game-week coverage on BGA Premium begins Monday.
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EXTRA POINT
Pulled an apple off one of our trees yesterday and with a knife scraped off what looked like just a little scab. I was about to bite into the apple when I saw something very small moving where I'd cut out the imperfection. Yeah, maybe we should have sprayed . . .
